I have recently purchased a 2000 RX300 with about 68,500 miles on it. It is making what I consider a louder than normal revving noise before shifting to 2nd. I took it for the 60,000 mile servicing (the previous owner hadn't done it yet) and asked the service tech to check it out (the car is still under factory warranty). After changing the trans fluid they stated that the noise was diminished and that other RX300's that they drove for comparison made similar noises.

The car seems to be shifting fine - just that noisy first makes me nervous - I can't imagine a car of this caliber would do that.

I have two questions:
1. Does anyone else experience that somewhat whiney noise in 1st?

2. Do you think they are putting me off because I am so close to being out of warranty?
(this is my concern)
Any feedback would be appreciated

 

Do you know what color your trans oil was before the 60k service? i. e. was it normal or tending towards black? Its an important question in order to answer your reliablilty issue.

 

It was tending towards black, although it didn't smell burnt.

 

Bot my 2001 RX300 a year ago at 57k miles. Had this noise. Had dealer checked, stated as normal. Tranny fuild looks dark. Drain and filled twice in next 5k. It is fresh red now, and still has the noise when running at the first gear. Now it has 90k miles on it. Also it hesitates at certain speed and temperatue from day one. I never found a cure for that.

 

The temperature "issue" is a feature. It waits longer to upshift when the engine and trans fluid are cold, and it won't upshift into overdrive at all until the fluid gets up to a certain temperature.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll keep an eye on the fluid. The noise is not effected by temp. Thinking of maybe test driving some others same age/mileage to see if they make the noise.